Mas Amedda - ROTS - Basic (III 40)

Mas Amedda was Vice Chair of the Galactic Senate under Chancellor Valorum and is now Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's major-domo. The Chagrian official uses his snakelike tongue to express agitation.

We may not always be thrilled with they way Hasbro approaches all of our action figures, but sometimes when a figure doesn’t come to us super-articulated we need to focus our energies on finding out why the figure ultimately refuses to be a failure (for our Star Wars collections). We’re exactly talking about Mas Amedda from Hasbro’s very proud Revenge Of The Sith line. He in actuality isn’t too exciting as an action figure. Calling him an action figure borders on being paradoxical. Not too many kids will be wishing for him for Christmas and perhaps the same will be true for many collectors as well. And let’s face it, he didn’t kill any Jedi and he is about as functional in the film as Meena Tills or Ask Aak. More content with just being “placed” somewhere in your displays, Mas Amedda is the most perfectly passive Revenge Of The Sith figure for 2005. In fact, Mas Amedda “ran from confrontation. (Did anyone else find the scene from Episode III odd when he just walked away from the Yoda and Darth Sidious duel?) What the action figure doesn’t run from however is a brilliant sculpt and healthy dose of accessories. Together, these parts comprise a very excellent Mas Amedda action figure. His species is Chagrian and it’s the perfect name for it because he seems to be a character that is easily vexed by the Senate which leaves him with constant chagrin.

This isn’t the first time we received Mas Amedda in the basic figure line. The very first version made by Hasbro was in the Power Of The Jedi line and was based on his appearance in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The figure wasn’t bad for its time and had a great likeness of the character. However, Hasbro didn’t get the skin color right and of course the articulation was nowhere it needed to be for Star Wars collectors to be happy. Then again, action figure standards in the year 2000 were quite different back them. The Revenge Of The Sith version of Mas Amedda doesn’t have that much more articulation, but the points of movement its does possess have been carefully planned for and are very functional. Mas Amedda has ball-jointed shoulders and ball-jointed elbows. His arms are so mobile and helps the figure tremendously. And he comes with a long ornate staff that you are able to pose in his hands perfectly vertically (although the plastic used to mold is too pliable). We count ourselves fortunate to have so much flexibility in the upper body. The rest of Mas Amedda is essentially a statue (stump), but it’s actually OK. This character didn’t wield a lightsaber and he didn’t run with a blaster in his hands, so he truly has all the articulation he needs.

Hasbro’s sculptors have also cleverly designed his outfit. The removable outer robes give Mas Amedda “royalty” status. The patterns and textures etched into this removable outerwear is stunning and he even rivals the duds worn by Chancellor Palpatine. Check out our gallery photos. You can really see the details clearly and this proves to us that this figure wasn’t rushed in the least. It’s evident from the final production results. Mas Amedda’s headdress is removable. It may even be incorrect to refer to it as a headdress as it function more like a cap, but Hasbro punched two holes into its top for Amedda’s horns to poke through effortlessly. The weirdest accessory perhaps is his removable forked tongue. We can’t recall if this extended tongue was seen in Episode III or not, but if you decide to pose the figure with him sticking it out at you, it makes him look a bit angrier, agitated as well as a bit more animated. It’s actually pretty cool how one removable body part can give the same figure two distinct personalities. Rest assured that Mas Amedda will stand the test of time. He’s proof that not all figures require 14 points of articulation and instead tooling dollars be expended on great design and accessories. You should definitely check him out.